


Calligraphy

by Light_Bending (TotallyARealPerson)



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26978971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TotallyARealPerson/pseuds/Light_Bending
Summary: My dudes. Writing should not suck, okay? But it often does. So here's my guide to stop fucking up. Feel free to use it.
Kudos: 2





	1. The List

Whoever reviews first gets first pick:

  * Romance
  * Comedy
  * Horror
  * Mystery
  * Action
  * Science fiction
  * Fantasy  
Magic systems  
Setting design  
Metaphors and messages: getting lost in translation
  * ~~Redemption~~
  * Action scenes
  * Setting design
  * Character design  
~~Personality~~  
LGBT characters  
Characters of colour  
Religious characters  
Female characters
  * Time differences  
Time travel  
Setting design across the times  
Character design across the times
  * Research
  * The writer's greatest mistake
  * How to deal with your fandom
  * Essays
  * Sentence structure
  * Pacing



Here's the order for already-written chapters:

  1. Redemption



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The above list was just off the top of my head. Please add to it in the comments if you feel anything's missing.
> 
> Furthermore: The list will be edited periodically based on already-discussed topics.


	2. Redemption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How to properly design a character for redemption and how to properly redeem your character.

Villain redemption in modern media is a very popular thing. Many people who grew up watching the shit out of _Avatar: the Last Airbender_ are now adults and content creators. However, they very often make mistakes with their psudo-Zuko, and I'm here to illustrate a proper starting point for a good redemption and I will likewise point out some things you Should Not Do.

See, there's a few criteria about characters who deserve redemption in the first place. 

  1. **The character must be redeemable.**  
Sounds easy, right? It's the bare minimum for any good redemption. This rule basically follows the concept of the Moral Event Horizon, a concept that stipulates 'regular evil' and 'irredeemable evil' are different ballparks. 'Regular evil', that is to say the redeemable villains, are the ones that can be redeemed and the 'irredeemable evil' follows as the title suggests - they are too heinous to ever become ambivalent to what they are now.  
Unfortunately, a lot of creators can't meet this bare minimum standard. I'll come back to this.
  2. **Your character must be written to have a redemption from word Go.**  
The problem with modern redemption stories is that a lot of them are written for irredeemable characters. Adolf Hitler, bad redemption. Oskar Schindler, good redemption.
  3. **Your character should have some importance to future plot.**  
This part isn't rocket science. Every character must bring something to the table. If your character not only doesn't improve after their redemption, but doesn't do anything, why were they broken out of their interesting villain mould in the first place?



The above is very important because utterly irredeemable characters should not have redemptions, and it's most obvious in the characters who aren't suited for it.

On reflection, the smartest thing in here yet was the comparison between Hitler and Schindler, so let's come back to that.

**Adolf Hitler** was the leader of the Nazi party during DGM. He massacred millions of jewish people, LGBT people, disabled people, people of colour, the list goes on and on. He occupied several countries. Basically a bitch, no one should ever try to redeem him in their stories. An amoral person who is objectively evil.

**Oskar Schindler** was a player in the DGM. In the beginning, he took over financial accounts for jewish people, because they weren't allowed to do it themselves. He later ran a chain of munitions factories for the Nazis, in which his employees were mostly jewish people who escaped the holocaust, and his standing motto was that if a single bullet made in that factory could fire, he'd be very disappointed.

Schindler and Hitler were both nazis. The differences between them are innumerable, but here are some of the key points:

  * **Actions**  
As a nazi, Schindler saved more than a thousand jews from the gas chambers. Hitler's the one who would've killed them without Schindler's interference.
  * **Power**  
A key point to consider is that Hitler is the apex predator in this situation. Spies and traitors don't normally come from people who enjoy a lot of privilege and power. If they do, it's often because something forced them into a realization that their actions were bad. E.g., in _Avatar: the Last Airbender_ , we see this happen with Zuko, where he witnesses firsthand the destruction the Fire Nation's imperialism has had on the Earth Kingdom. Schindler was nowhere close enough to influence Hitler strongly, and certainly had no influence over the military, but he did have a functional environment for jewish people to work safely and make them indispensable.
  * **The homicidal asshole or the murder in self-defense?**  
Picture this: two people are morally corrupt. One kills people because he likes to see light go out in their eyes. One has killed an abuser in self-defense. Both are exiled for their crimes. Who will you help? (No question, right?)



Strictly speaking, this isn't much of a redemption. It's mostly only for the benefit of your main protagonists, who've only seen your redeemed character as a thorn in their side, or an obstacle to overcome. The audience already knows he's more morally grey than evil. Your job is to write it in a way that's believable and interesting. Don't loose your audience's attention. This isn't a thing to skip, y'know?

Now, according to L. Orchard, this is how to properly redeem your villain with all the steps and procedure, including comparisons between redeemed characters:

  1. Make them realize **on their own** that their actions were wrong and work to undo the damage they or their comrades have inflicted.
  2. If they join the hero in an explicit fashion, **make sure the main characters aren't immediately all hunky-dory with them.**
  3. **Guilt** is a very important part of redemption. It's easing the character into the main cast, but also in the eyes of the audience. 
  4. **The pacing** is VERY IMPORTANT. Watch; if unnamed homicidal asshole turned over a new leaf within an episode, all of your main protagonists accept him without question, and he doesn't show any signs of remorse for his actions and he's entirely good without any hiccups, you're gonna blink and go back to check if you accidentally skipped an episode or five. My dudes, this is your first warning of many: pacing is A Thing for a very good reason.



If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Ciao!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ressources used:
> 
> Orchard L (2017), _Glass of Water: Seventy Times Seven_ , Link
> 
> I really suggest this video for people who learn better with audio. And also Lily's videos in general. She's also an author, far older and more experienced than I, and she has dozens of videos like that, about literary analysis and critical thinking. But don't you dare badger her about making more Glass of Water. Don't ever. I will block you till the end of my fucking days.
> 
> Okay, have a good day and see ya later!


	3. Character design: Personality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Easiest fucking thing in the world to do: part one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm being mean. Character design is by no means complicated, but it's by no means simple, either. Here's a brief guide on how to design your characters.
> 
> Warning for stereotypical character design in the first two paragraphs.

"This is my OC. She's special and unique because unlike other girls she drinks tea and reads books and doesn't talk about clothes. Also she's not pretty, but she's skinny and often white and conventionally attractive. She also likes to look at stars at night and also is unquestionably hetero. She's clumsy and awkward, but it's cute, not detrimental. Also she doesn't talk with other girls about stuff that's above her. And she's an old soul that raised herself and her eyes are deep pools. And she doesn't wear makeup but that's okay because her skin's flawless anyway."

"Oh, cool! Maybe she should meet my OC, who's a mysterious stranger who's new at school and didn't like school because he was too smart for it and didn't like sports but could definitely play for a national sports team. He attracted girls like a magnet, and all the guys were jealous because of his beauty. He's a bad boy who got expelled from his previous school because he stood up to a bully and the school's higher-ups didn't like that. He doesn't have a bad social life, really, and he really likes darkened corners and lots of shade to preserve his edgelord darkness king of the dark-dark vibe. And he also pushes your OC away because he's scared he'll hurt her."

Wham-bam-thank you ma'am, I just wrote every single bad teenage romance novel EVER.

Character design is not a complex process. Why so many people overcomplicate it is insane.

Alright, let's back up a bit. Let's make a bit of a formula for your character. Consider this the baseline.

  * What are their views on politics?
  * How are they affected by changing procedure regarding women, LGBT people, people of colour, religious people, disabled people, or any combination therein?
  * Do they like animals?
  * What's their social life like?
  * How do they contradict themselves?
  * How are they disadvantaged by circumstances external to themselves?
  * How are they disadvantaged by circumstances internal to themselves?



And things continue like that.

Next are the aesthetics. Just about the easiest fucking thing in the world to do.

  * What's their ethnicity? (Side note: does this have an effect on their political standpoint?)
  * What's their gender?  
Reminder that this can change at any time with minimal warning for the other characters, notably if this is not the person whose POV this is written in (First-person POV or Third-person Omniscient is a bit more difficult). It can easily lead to a lot of upheaval in their life if people around them don't accept them as genderfluid, trans, intersex, enby, etc - especially blood family, where they can be anywhere from a nuisance to a violent and destructive influence. It can also lead to new hobbies, habits, schools, etc. However, if you're overhauling the aesthetic and you're trying to be realistic about it for peeps in the audience who aren't comfortable with their body, transitioning takes a lot of time and money, and estrogen/testosterone is a continual process.
  * Do they wear makeup? How much? Do they have a preference in how much they wear? Do they have self-imposed rules about when to wear makeup? Does their culture have any rules about makeup composition? What kind of makeup do they prefer? Do they have access to makeup in their skin tone, or geographical location/monetary situation?
  * What's their style?  
This can be a very fluid thing. I, myself, wear a mix of combat boots or flats depending on how much laces I'm willing to tie today or how dirty my socks are. It'll also depend on weather - not many people are keen on wearing shorts in snowstorms. It also depends on their religion and their geographical position. A devout muslim woman is more likely to wear a hijab than a nonreligious person is to wear a scarf, and people who live closer to the equator will wear less heavy layers than people who live in Russia.



The next thing to figure out is hobbies.

This one's pretty easy. Just go on google images and pick something generic. It can be drawing, it can be writing, it can be reading, it can be tree-climbing, it can be talking to crows, it can be murder, it can be arson, it can be nail art, it can be WHAT FUCKIN EVER. I dunno. Card games; Gambling? Asshole? Bullshit? Crazy eights? What do normal people like these days?

* Note that many people have more than one hobby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, this is subject to change in perspective and editing. Tinker with character design - really, the world is there for you to mould, and so are the characters. Just don't make them stereotypes.


	4. BIPOC characters

To start, a disclaimer: I'm white. I have no experience being a person of colour or with the diaspora of being a part of a different culture. I don't have firsthand experience with any of these things.

This is exactly why this chapter is going to be mostly links so you can learn on your own. For example:

@writingwithcolour is a blog on Tumblr. All the fifteen mods are POC, and they deal with asks about specific characters and their roles in the story, or how they're racist if they are racist. I can't even begin to describe how much their posts have helped me to overcome my personal beliefs and biases

A guide to designing the physical aspects of your biracial character, because getting a good idea of the aesthetics will make it easier to write about in the story. Is their hair frizzy? Are they tall? How's the positioning of their eyes? This will likely help. Romani culture and history, a comprehensive uplink for various resources on Romani culture, history, art, language, traditions, and things to avoid.

This is just the beginning, but because I neither have the patience nor time to do literally everything on this chapter today and saving my progress erases the links, I'll be periodically updating the links in the comment section.

Tell me if the links expire.

Oh, but first, a warning: Don't ever, not even for a second, make me regret giving you this info; if you do, I'll rip your dick off and shove it so far up your ass you'll be coughing cum for a month.

Sorry for the short chapter. I'll make it up to you guys.

Ciao! :)


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